Prominent ESPN Insider Paints Ominous Picture Regarding Logan Gilbert's Health For Seattle Mariners

Last Friday, the Seattle Mariners saw All-Star pitcher Logan Gilbert leave the game after just three innings with "right forearm tightness."

While that caused a lot of worry, the M's delivered good news on Saturday when it was announced that Gilbert "only" has a Grade 1 flexor tendon strain. He'll be shut down from throwing for two weeks and then re-evaluated. While not good to see Gilbert hit the injured list, it's certainly better than the worst-case scenarios that people feared.

We spoke to noted injury insider Will Carroll on a recent episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast and he also delivered an optimistic outlook on Gilbert. You can read that here.

However, on Thursday's edition of the podcast, ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney delivered a more ominous picture:

Question: Buster, I've run the emotional gamut on this one. When Gilbert left the game, I feared the worst. Then, the news was better than I thought, and the insider I spoke to felt optimistic about it all, which made me feel good, but I'm still going to be nervous until I see Gilbert actually on a mound again.

Answer:

And I think all of that is 100% appropriate. Look, the Mariners are thinking that he's going to be back sometime in the middle of June. This is not a significant elbow injury on that Tommy John scale. So, there's hope that he's going to come back. George Kirby: he's making his way back, and they expect him back by the end of the month. So that's, generally speaking, good signs, but I would say that the biggest indicator of future injuries are past injuries. So Gerrit Cole, is a great working example of that. You know, he's a guy who's a workhorse. He threw a ton of innings. Spring training of 2024, he goes down with an elbow injury. It takes him three months, but he comes back. He's an effective pitcher for them (the Yankees) in the second half of last year. And then he came into spring training and he broke down and he had to have Tommy John surgery. That's why you should be concerned going forward, because an injury to a pitcher means it's more likely that in the future he's going to suffer a more severe injury with his arm. And let's face it, that's the nature of pitching in 2025. Guys break down all the time.

You can listen to the full interview with Olney in the player below:

Gilbert, 27, is 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA this season. He's struck out 44 batters in 30.1 innings.

The Mariners are 18-12 entering play on Friday. They are in first place in the American League West. They'll play the Texas Rangers at 5:05 p.m. PT.

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